Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Card Amex review: First checked bag free + $200 Delta credit

Nov 08, 2024

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The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card makes an excellent case as the go-to option for small business owners who frequently fly Delta. You get your first checked bag free of charge on Delta flights — which typically costs up to $70 for a roundtrip flight — and you can save 15% on Delta award travel with the TakeOff 15 perk.

Even better, this is the lowest-priced Amex Delta business card available. Cardmembers pay a reasonable $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150.

Free checked bag: You can check your first bag for free on Delta Air Lines flights. This benefit extends to up to eight other passengers traveling on your reservation.

TakeOff 15: Receive a 15% discount on Delta award flights booked through Delta.com or the Fly Delta mobile app.

Delta flight credit: Earn a $200 flight credit after spending $10,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year. This credit can be applied toward Delta-marketed flights purchased through Delta.com or with Delta Reservations.

Priority boarding: You and up to eight passengers on the same reservation automatically receive Zone 5 priority boarding on Delta flights.

Delta Stays credit: You can receive an annual statement credit of up to $150 when using your card to book prepaid hotels or vacation rentals with Delta Stays on Delta.com.

In-flight savings: You can save 20% (received as a statement credit) on select in-flight purchases made with your card.

Employee cards: Add employee cards to your account for free. You can set spending limits and alerts for your employee cards and earn rewards on eligible purchases.

Card protections: This card includes purchase protection and extended warranty coverage. With purchase protection, eligible new purchases are covered against theft and accidental damage. Extended warranty protection can add an extra year of warranty to eligible purchases with original manufacturer’s warranties of five years or less.

Travel coverage: Take advantage of baggage and car rental loss and damage insurance. The baggage insurance can cover lost, damaged, or stolen baggage on covered trips, and the car rental insurance can cover damage to or theft of eligible rental vehicles in covered territories.

No foreign transaction fees: The Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Amex doesn’t charge any transaction fees on foreign purchases.

These are the primary ways to earn Delta SkyMiles with the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express Card:

You can earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of card membership.

From our experience, that’s enough miles for at least a few Delta award flights. However, Delta uses dynamic pricing, which means award flight pricing can vary by route, date, and demand.

You can use the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express Card to earn:

2x miles on purchases made directly with Delta

2x miles on eligible U.S. purchases at shipping providers and advertising purchases in select media (up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1x)

2x miles on dining and restaurant purchases

1x miles on all other eligible purchases

You can assign up to 99 employee cards with your Delta Gold Business Amex Card, all of which can earn miles on eligible purchases. The earning potential on this card isn’t as good as other rewards credit cards, but having multiple employees making purchases can help you rack up miles quicker.

If you're eligible, you can share a card referral link with friends and family. You'll receive a bonus if someone applies for a card through your link and is approved.

Certain loyalty programs have the option to convert their rewards into Delta SkyMiles. For example, you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points — earned by cards like the American Express® Business Gold Card and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express — to your Delta SkyMiles account.

Note that you typically can’t transfer points back after they’ve been moved from one loyalty program to another. For this reason, it makes sense to have a specific redemption in mind before initiating a transfer.

Redeeming your SkyMiles for Delta award flights will generally provide you with the most value. However, there are various redemption options available, including:

Flights: Redeem your miles for award flights to over 1,000 destinations. Award flight pricing can vary, but we regularly find short flights that cost less than 10,000 miles.

Checked bags: Use miles to cover checked baggage fees on select Delta flights.

Upgrades and more: Upgrade your seat with miles or use your miles to purchase a Delta Sky Club membership.

Delta Vacations: Purchase a vacation package through Delta Vacations using your SkyMiles.

Hotel stays: Book a hotel or vacation rental with miles through Delta.

Magazine subscriptions: Use miles on popular magazines like People and TIME.

SkyMiles Experiences: Use your miles to bid on different types of experiences. These could include dinner experiences, seeing a Broadway show, and more.

Charitable donations: Donate your miles to select charities, including the American Red Cross, Make-A-Wish, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Amex makes sense for small business owners who frequently fly Delta. The earning potential is average, but you can get plenty of value from the card’s perks and benefits.

Our favorite perk is getting your first checked bag for free. Delta charges $35 for your first checked bag on a one-way flight, so you can immediately save $35 per flight (or $70 roundtrip) on baggage fees. The savings only increase if you often fly with other people, as up to eight other passengers on your reservation can also get their first checked bag free.

The baggage benefit alone is sufficient to offset the annual fee if you fly enough, but there are also other attractive benefits. For example, saving 15% on award flights, priority boarding, and earning a $200 Delta flight credit after spending $10,000 in a calendar year.

If you don’t fly Delta enough, this isn’t the card for you — you might be better off with a more flexible travel rewards card or a different airline card.

Get your first checked bag free

Save 15% on Delta award flights

Priority boarding

Earn a $200 Delta flight credit after spending $10,000 in a calendar year

No foreign transaction fees

Annual fee

No airport lounge access

Average earning potential, even on Delta purchases

The Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Amex is accepted wherever American Express credit cards are accepted. In the U.S., that’s basically everywhere.

However, American Express isn’t as widely accepted worldwide. We’ve had luck using an Amex card in a few countries, but Visa and Mastercard credit cards are more reliable options for international travelers.

Here are the primary ways you can make credit card payments with your Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Amex:

Online account: Log in and make payments from the American Express website.

Mobile app: Download the Amex mobile app on your iOS or Android device to manage your credit cards on the go.

Autopay: You can set up automatic payments (debits from your bank account) from your online account or the Amex mobile app.

Mail: Send mail payments to American Express, P.O. Box 96001, Los Angeles, CA, 90096–8000.

Phone: Make a payment over the phone by calling 1-800-472-9297.

American Express customer service is typically available 24/7, though it can depend on the contact method. Here are different ways you can reach Amex support:

Phone: Call the number on the back of your card or 1-800-492-3344.

Mail: Send general inquiries to American Express P.O. Box 981535, El Paso, TX 79998-1535

Online chat: Log into your online account via the Amex website or mobile app to speak to a live chat representative.

If the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Amex Card doesn’t seem like the right fit for you, consider these alternative business credit cards:

Why we like it: The Ink Business Preferred has a lower annual fee and more flexible redemption options. You can book flights on most airlines through Chase Travel℠ and receive a 25% points bonus. You can transfer your points to more than a dozen airline and hotel loyalty programs, giving you more options to find a good deal.

Read our full Ink Business Preferred review

Why we like it: The Capital One Venture X Business has a higher annual fee, but it provides premium perks and benefits, such as airport lounge access and a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee credit. You can access over 1,300 airport lounges, including Priority Pass, Capital One, and Plaza Premium Lounges. You can also receive an annual $300 travel credit for Capital One Travel bookings and 10,000 bonus miles each anniversary year.

Why we like it: The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business Amex has the best perks and benefits of Delta credit cards. It has a $650 annual fee that you can help offset with complimentary access to The Centurion Lounge, Escape Lounge, and Delta Sky Club* (when flying Delta). You can also earn additional Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) on purchases to help earn elite status.

Other cardholder benefits include getting your first checked bag free, access to complimentary upgrades, up to $120 annual rideshare credit (up to $10 in statement credits per month), a companion certificate, and up to $240 Resy credit (up to $20 in statement credits per month). Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Read our full Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business Amex review

*Effective 2/1/25, Reserve Card Members will receive 15 Visits per year to the Delta Sky Club; to earn an unlimited number of Visits each year starting on 2/1/25, the total eligible purchases on the Card must equal $75,000 or more between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24, and each calendar year thereafter. [Once all 15 Visits have been used, Eligible Card Members may purchase additional Delta Sky Club Visits (including Grab and Go) at a per-Visit rate of $50 per person using the Card.]

This article was edited by Alicia Hahn

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